French film star Issach de Bankolé - that's the Name of the Day Award won - stars in this sumptuous visual accompaniment to 'Hills', one of the numerous standouts from Leonard Cohen's posthumous Thanks For The Dance album.
"As a world-weary protagonist on the streets of Texas, Bankolé reminisces on his past as he too tries on that iconic fedora and, for a moment, embodies the man behind the music," the production notes read. "Charged with enigmatic visual metaphors, 'The Hills' is a beautiful cinematic tribute to the only song on Thanks For The Dance scored by Cohen.
"The song origins begin in 2006 as a draft for the then titled, Book Of Longing. As the lyrics and arrangement evolved, 'The Hills' was set to appear on You Want It Darker but was held, finalised, and then released for Thanks For The Dance."
In addition to the https://www.rte.ie/culture/2020/0413/1130276-listen-the-rte-concert-orchestra-performs-leonard-cohen audio stream, the well-received The Songs of Leonard Cohen with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra tribute gets an RTÉ One screening at 10.30pm on April 25.
With Lisa Hannigan, Mick Flannery, Suzanne Savage, Phelim Drew and Moncrief (the Waterford singer, not the Dublin broadcaster) among the guest vocalists, we've our spots on the sofa booked already.